My condensate pipe finally froze up late last week. Ours is a very long run down one internal wall and then more or less the full length of the kitchen on the front outside wall. No real problem, the drop from the boiler is on a push fit joint so I just disconnected it and then added two 210 degree elbows and two short lengths of pipe into a bucket. I will just reconnect once the thaw is permanent.

Indeed Kev, I think they overlooked the intermittent trickle as an insignificant feature. Not good when you have extended frosts. Pluggys solution is rather elegant but I will just suffice with a bucket for the odd times that it happens. I had contemplated fitting a trace wire Back in 2012 when we had an extended cold spell, but it hasn't frozen since then until last week. Think of the lectric I've saved.

Indeed Kev, I think they overlooked the intermittent trickle as an insignificant feature. Not good when you have extended frosts. Pluggys solution is rather elegant but I will just suffice with a bucket for the odd times that it happens. I had contemplated fitting a trace wire Back in 2012 when we had an extended cold spell, but it hasn't frozen since then until last week. Think of the lectric I've saved.

For it freezing every 5 years I could live with a temporary fudge when it happens. I put the pump in because there wasn't a doable alternative to get rid of the condensate in another way. The boiler is low to the ground on a wall with a public footpath on the other side and no accessible drains. I didn't see the non freezing benefit until today.when Stanley mentioned it. Running thin polythene tube any which way I could including up hill was a doddle. Apart from an occasional whirr I can only hear when the cupboard is open its gone unnoticed in the 6 years I'#ve had it.

My ideal would be for the condensate to drain direct into the waste stack indoors Pluggy. The boiler is in the bathroom within 3 feet of the pipe..... But it was never a problem while the insulation was on.
Not so much a design fault as a problem that must be overcome Kev. Some condensate drains simply ask for trouble.....

Stanley Challenger Graham
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net

"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!

Some cold fingers after that lot Tiz!
The late news item about the man and his two sons at the bottom of a cliff and a wife dead in the house. We may think we have troubles at times but one can't imagine the depths of despair that could lead to a tragedy like that. The police said they weren't looking for anyone else in connection with the case.

Stanley Challenger Graham
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net

"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!

The Russian spy Sergei Skripal gathers momentum. Link. This is open to a bonanza of conspiracy theories. A double agent working for both Russia and the UK. It could just be self inflicted but on the other hand it could be anybody. Boris is the first to jump in labeling the Russian as possible villains. On the other hand it could be our own 'undercover' people are closing things down before something really nasty leaks out. Then we have :- 'The Metropolitan police said that due to the “unusual circumstances” its counter-terrorism unit would now be heading the investigation'. Surely “unusual circumstances” demand that they 100% involved rather than hand it over to someone who can claim 'National Security' and keep it out of the public domain.

The late news item about the man and his two sons at the bottom of a cliff and a wife dead in the house. We may think we have troubles at times but one can't imagine the depths of despair that could lead to a tragedy like that. The police said they weren't looking for anyone else in connection with the case.

T'was ever thus. In Blackburn a favourite place for bankrupts and others with troubles to end it all was Tom Crook's delph. One of our local shopkeepers was one of them. Our parents tried to keep us away from the delph by telling us their ghosts were there.

Regarding the two Russians...I agree with the comment on the radio that Putin and the Russian state don't need to be involved, there are plenty of Russians who have the cash and the power to end lives anywhere in the world if it suits them. And if Putin wanted it done he would only have to give the nod to one of those.

You're right Tiz. The happily married son of two good friends of mine in the US, he had a lovely wife and two children, went in the garage one dinnertime at weekend while all the family were at home and blew his brains out with a .45. Waste of time trying to fathom it.
As for the Skripal affair.... The spooks always trump the normal police and we will never be made party to what actually happened, our pay grade isn't high enough! What surprised me was Boris altering his speech at the last minute and delivering his diatribe, fingering the Russian state. He is quite right but as we see all to often, some things are glossed over. If you want an example look at the Saudi prince being given royal treatment even though we all know what the link is between him, us and the biggest humanitarian disaster in the world at the moment (according to the UN). Then think of the number of children poisoned by chemical attacks in Syria...... My mind goes back to Union Carbide and Bhopal..... there are so many examples of human life being held cheap. The attack on an ex-spy and his daughter in a shopping centre is shocking because it is here on our doorstep but is nothing compared to the other examples.
What attracts my attention today is that I shall get a visit from Susan and husband Mick this morning. Life must go on......

Stanley Challenger Graham
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net

"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!

In all the talk about nerve agents being used on the Russian man and his daughter there is one point I haven't heard mentioned but is important. The commentators keep mentioning well-known agents like Sarin and VX and how the forensic scientists will be trying to identify which one was used. The truth is that the analysts may have a more difficult job. The range of known agents is limited because they need to have the capability to not only kill or disable extremely quickly but also to be dispersed effectively on the battlefield. This latter property is not relevant if you are wanting to attack an individual at very close range. Consequently, a much greater range of chemicals is available to the developer and also it would be possible to employ chemicals which could be effective by ingestion rather than inhalation or skin contact.

So why all this fuss over some ex-russkie spy getting bumped off. Almost every week some poor kid is knifed to death and it hardly makes it into the papers. Could it just be that whoever did this may have the wherewithal to see off high ranking government officials? Now this would be getting serious.

You could be right P but on the whole I think it's the uncertainty, bit like a serious infection, it can't be seen coming. Besides, too many reports about random violence on the streets would raise questions about what the police are doing about it, lack of officers, funding and so on the doorstep of Downing Street. This attack gives a chance to show how well equipped and resolute we are! The War On Terror you know....... Very attractive for the media.....
A good visit by Susan and Mick..... Great fun planning for the Gathering of the Clans in four weeks.....
There's something I have been meaning to mention since last week but it keeps slipping me. During the reporting on the Beast From the East there was a shot of a council gritter spreading a thick layer of road salt in Downing Street. It was obviously the highest quality Cheshire Rock salt. Then I noted what had been spread locally in the town centre and it was rubbish, 90% sand and coarse grit. When the thaw came it left places like the Pioneer car park looking like a mucky beach. There is obviously one law for Downing Street and another for us proles in the regions.....

Stanley Challenger Graham
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net

"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!

It hasn't attracted much attention in the press but the workers at the new Hinckley plant staged a sit-in because they hadn't been paid and were in dispute with EDF. The BBC reported: "On Tuesday about 600 staff staged a sit-in at the staff canteen, claiming they had not been paid for days when snow stopped work last week. EDF had said the workers were paid at a union-agreed rate. The BBC understands both sides have now reached agreement."
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I've put a link in the Winged Heroes thread to a jet making a wheels-up landing: LINK

Hinkley is a mystery to me. A bankrupt company installing an unproven system at a price the customer can't afford. (Oh and amidst suspicions that the technology is outdated).
I suppose Trump's shenanigans attracted my attention but I am fed up with bothering to comment on his crass stupidity.

Stanley Challenger Graham
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net

"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!

Capita and HMRC strike again....
`Former miners wrongly told they owe thousands in tax' LINK
About 17,000 ex-mineworkers were wrongly told they owed thousands of pounds in tax due to an error. One of them was 79-year-old Michael Hinchley, from Nottinghamshire, who said he was shocked after being told in a letter he owed £26,000. Capita, the administrator for the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme, said the tax code letters were sent by mistake. The National Union of Mineworkers said it showed a lack of "human contact and concern" for UK miners.....Chris Kitchen, general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), said the union was "inundated" with calls after 17,000 former miners were issued with the letters, with some told they owed £50,000 in tax. He said the union was concerned no-one at the Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) picked up on the error before the letters were generated. "But it's highlighted our concerns of whether Capita are up to the job - there's a lack of human contact and concern with HMRC, too."

I agree Tiz, it's terrible and will anybody be disciplined for the mistake?
Unfortunately we see the same syndrome in any outsourced service and there is always the suspicion, even though it is denied, that returns to the operator or the continuity of the contract, are affected by savings from cutting down the cost of the service to the provider.

Stanley Challenger Graham
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net

"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!

It worries me Tiz. I've been going on in another topic about the vast reservoirs of skill embedded in the most mundane manual tasks. This is equally pertinent in what used to be the skilled jobs like machining. Watch any video of modern CNC machining centres performing miracles and the operator, in his nice clean overalls is stood there ready to press the appropriate button occasionally. Then go to Youtube and watch someone like Adam Booth (Abom79) doing wonderful things on a manual lathe and reflect that one of these days people are going to be skilled at one thing only, doing nothing! And as you say, it's coming quicker than we think!
I remember the CEO of Renolds PLC, Trevor Grice, telling me once that if you showed him a machine that destroyed two or three manual jobs he would always buy it. Brave New World!

Stanley Challenger Graham
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net

"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!

I understand what you're saying and share your concerns about the decline in manual skills. I see it too in the way models can be made now by digitally controlled carving of shapes and structures. But there's no going back, we're accelerating into the future and the advantages of scientific, technological and medical developments outweigh the disadvantages. I don't believe the manual skills will disappear, but they'll be learnt and applied by people who choose to employ them rather than being forced to use them to earn a crust. The easy availability of `ready meals' hasn't prevented many people wanting to enjoy cooking their meals and houses are still built with kitchens. I hope we'll once again see more small workshops setting up using those manual skills, perhaps located in and around housing estates were people can walk to work and make beautiful things out of wood and metal...and even plastic! There's an increasing interest in self-build houses and the provision of land especially for this purpose and that would be the ideal place for such workshops. The land is provided with all the necessary services and roads and is divided into plots so that an individual can buy a plot and build a house design of their own choosing. These locations could be places of work as well as of homes.

One of the reasons I enjoy Youtube so much is the number of videos there are of people doing things with their hands and practising skills. Think of Sue in her sewing room and you and your geological specimens. I see Oneguy as a good example in a different field. Instead of just being recipients of screen info we actually generate ideas, new material and conversation which is just as important. Beats video games any day! (Mind you I do like my Solitaire...... but come to think, that's proactive as well.)
By the way, on the subject of robots..... They were being discussed on Woman's Hour yesterday and the presenter raised the point that one day we could be governed by robots. Now there's a scary thought!THIS PRESS RELEASE by Manchester University repays careful reading. They have been sampling the water in urban rivers and found the highest contamination by plastic particles ever recorded in inland waterways world-wide. Further they re-sampled after flood events and found much lower concentrations demonstrating how urban pollution is transferred to the sea. The message is clear, no matter how far you are from the sea you have a responsibility to be vigilant and not add to the problem.

Stanley Challenger Graham
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net

"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!